On the Set: DP, Ricky Greenwood Get Otherworldly for ‘Project X’

This feature appears in the September issue of AVN magazine. Click here for the digital edition. MONROVIA, Calif.—When you’re following up a bona fide behemoth of a movie the likes of Machine Gunner—which not only claimed the preeminent Grand Reel trophy at this year’s AVN Awards ceremony, but in so doing became the first Digital Playground release to earn AVN’s top prize since a little arthouse picture called Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge in 2009—it almost goes without saying that you’re going to be aiming mighty high. In the case at hand, we’re talking outer space. Well ... sort of. Much in keeping with its title, the plot particulars of Project X, DP’s new sci-fi megaproduction helmed by Gunner director Ricky Greenwood, are shrouded in a bit of mystery on the day we arrive to a very nondescript office building rather far-flung from the triple-X hive of Porn Valley to watch some of it get lensed. The only thing we know for sure is that it involves an alien ... seemingly within some sort of Area 51-like milieu. Even the exact spot within the building where the shoot is taking place has us wondering whether it’s behind some secret hidden door as we navigate long, winding hallways devoid of any activity ... until we hear the distinct sound of sexual grunts and gasps wafting toward us from up ahead, and we soon turn a corner to see three-time AVN Male Performer of the Year Mick Blue plowing away from behind at four-time AVN MILF Performer of the Year Cherie DeVille up against the nearest wall. The two, we later learn, are playing lead characters Dr. Allie Sharpe and Dr. John Harding, former lovers who have just come face-to-face unexpectedly at a military facility as recruited members of a specially assembled research team. Greenwood is watching their spontaneous bone session unfold from behind a bank of monitors set up in a darkened room just off the hallway where the pair of industry titans are surrounded by a battery of likewise venerable craftspeople—including cinematographer Matt Holder and lighting technician Shaun Rivera, both 2024 AVN Hall of Fame inductees. Observing a nice beam of lens flare in a low shot on one of the monitors, Greenwood whispers with a grin to the crew member beside him: “My J.J. Abrams moment is coming.” After the frenzied bonk between Blue and DeVille wraps up, we have a few moments to prod Greenwood for a handful of additional details about this Project. “Digital Playground asked me if I wanted to do a sci-fi movie, so I said yeah, I never did a sci-fi film really,” he tells us. “When they told me that, I was expecting like a Star Trek with a spaceship and everything. And when I read the script, I realized that it was more a down-to-earth type of sci-fi, it’s on a military base. I had to build a spaceship, but not completely.” Asked how this movie compares to Machine Gunner scale-wise, he submits, “It’s a little bit different. The thing is, Machine Gunner was very challenging because we were shooting outside, it was a lot of gunfights and a lot of blanks, and the first time I was working with blanks, with guns, it’s a safety issue that was coming in. And the pressure that I had because it was for my friend [the late Robby D.], so it was a lot different mood and pressure that was on me. “This one, the story is a little bit simpler,” he continues, “and we don’t have gunfights at all, but we have VFX that I’ve never really done before. So for me, it’s a different challenge. Like later today, Luna [Star] is shooting lasers from her eyes. But I will see nothing, so it’s just reacting to nothing. So it’s a lot of things that are out of my control, that the VFX people are doing. At some point, Luna is all burned and she heals herself. So for me, I did the burning effect, and I did the not burning effect, and now they have to blend them together to create her kind of healing herself.” In case there’s any question as to what Star’s role is in the movie, yes, she plays the alien at the center of it all ... or “The Entity,” as the character is officially named. Seeing that she happens to be on-hand in the nearby makeup room, we corner the 2024 AVN Awards co-host to get her take on depicting an extraterrestrial. For the burned-up effect Greenwood spoke of, Star reveals that she spent a grueling amount of time having special prosthetic makeup applied. “The first day took like four hours,” she says. “And then we tried to keep the same pieces for the second time, so it can be continuity, so we did like two hours yesterday. But it was super cool. It was amazing.” As to her general feelings about the role itself, she cracks, “I’m very excited, because I think it goes with me very well, because I think I’m an alien. I’m very out of this world.” Jokes aside, she continues, “I think it’s amazing. One of my favorite movies of all time is The Fifth Element, and it’s kind of the same idea. ... I think it’s an amazing storyline, and I can’t wait to see the effects. It’s gonna be super fun. It’s definitely a super fun project, and I’m super excited.” Also in the room presently—in fact, sitting in one of the makeup chairs waiting to get hers done—is yet another AVN Hall of Famer, none other than Monique Alexander. This being one of her first appearances in front of studio cameras since pre-COVID—the only other being the star-studded “20 for 20” orgy scene released by Brazzers earlier this summer in commemoration of its 20th anniversary—we’re naturally inclined to find out how closely this experience resembles what she remembers from those bygone days before the rise of OnlyFans. “It’s so much different,” Alexander contends. “I haven’t been on set in a long time, so just even doing the anniversary thing for Brazzers, we had talent advocates ... we never had that before. Which is amazing. We had the checklist that we go over beforehand, the do’s and don’ts. I just think the industry has really evolved to a beautiful place. It was great back in the Vivid days, you know, I was under contract so it was good, but I just love the fact that as performers, we have more rights now. Before I feel like the studios kind of controlled what they did and how they treated us, and now it’s kind of like, well you guys need us to survive, so they kind of recognize that now and treat us better, which is nice.” In Project X, Alexander plays Captain Bullock, who’s in charge of the military facility. “I was a little nervous,” she confesses, “because I have a lot of dialogue, and I was like, ‘Ah, I haven’t done this in a long time!’ But luckily, it was like riding a bike.” Much like Star, Alexander registers high expectations for the finished product. “I’m really excited for it,” she effuses. “It’s definitely a different thing. But I know with Ricky, it’s gonna be great, because I saw the preview of Dirty Cops [another Greenwood-directed feature released by DP in June] and it looked amazing. So I’m excited to see this.” As it turns out, Alexander isn’t the only major player here working with Greenwood for the first time. No ... we’re informed at one point, somewhat surprisingly, that the same is true of Cherie DeVille. Catching her in the makeup chair as well, DeVille corroborates this to us, remarking, “I was thinking about that this morning, I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve worked with him 100 times.’ And then I’m like, ‘No, I just know him really well!’ I just know him personally, and we actually haven’t been together in a professional capacity yet. So strange.” So now that she has officially found herself with him in a professional capacity, what does she think of having him as her director? “It’s been awesome!” she exclaims. “There’s so many things I like about him. I like that he keeps a really well-organized set. I love how he sends us the call sheet every morning and sticks to it. No nonsense ... but he’s a really good balance of letting people be playful but cutting it off when there’s stuff to be done. It’s a really nice balance of playful energy and let’s get this day done, we don’t want to be here at four in the morning.” That energy permeates the set of Project X, along with a general air of legitimate excitement. And with a cast like this—which also includes Ryan Reid, Tommy Pistol, Alex Jones and reigning AVN Best Male Newcomer Hollywood Cash in top roles—well ... we expect the excitement is just beginning. Project X began rolling out on DigitalPlayground.com Monday, with weekly updates set to drop throughout September. Photos by @MADCreativity